What really happens at the time of death? Some people, such as this particular survey participant, describe perceptible changes in their environment and report seeing a glow or a light envelop their loved one just before death.

Is it glow the etheric body, the soul or perhaps even the reflection of the light from the death tunnel? I have never been present when someone has died and have never witnessed this phenomenon.

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Death is one of two experiences that we all have in common. What have you personally experienced?

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I would like to share a moment in my life and see if anyone else has had this experience.

A close friend of mine passed away when she was a teenager. I saw her the evening of her death and she struck me as being transparent and was literally illuminating. I pulled her aside and said something is going on you are glowing. We were both young and at a party late at night. I wasn’t sure what I was experiencing and she didn’t understand what I was trying to say either.

I went home went to sleep and was awakened by my mother who told me she had died in a car accident.

I will never forget the way she looked and I was somewhat comforted that I was able to see her before her death. It was very odd.

Has anyone seen a loved one or friend this way unknowingly of what was about to happen? I have some guilt over what could I have done to save her. I didn’t know what was coming next. None of us did.

I can well imagine that something like this would stay with you forever and my understanding is that this type of experience is not uncommon.

Some people see etheric bodies as they go about their day-to-day lives; others have moments when other wolds ‘bleed’ through into our consciousness. In the case of your friend, it may be that her bodies were starting to split before her dreadful accident and while she does not seem to have had any premonition of what was to come, it is possible that her higher consciousness was preparing her.

It is unclear whether there was anything you or your friend could have done to change the course of her life. Perhaps she chose the time and mode of her death before she was born? There is much we don’t know about parallel universes and life before and after death Lisa. Maybe your friend shared a parting gift with you before she departed.

On the night that my dad passed away, he had held my hands tightly. I told him I would stay with him as long as I could but then a time would come when I’d have to let go. I told him we’d walk down the road to the gate. I sang to him, prayed and held his hands until he suddenly sat up and looked at me. His eyes were glowing. Although they were blue, they turned an amber color. He suddenly let go and fell back onto the pillow. My daughter saw his eyes glow too so I know it was not my imagination. When I told the hospice staff they said they had not heard of it before. I believe my dads spirit was leaving and headed to heaven. There is no other explanation.

What a wonderful parting gift from your Dad, Pamela! I have not read about the eyes glowing, as such but many people do talk about witnessing the releasing of the spirit. We are so much more than our physical bodies and it seems each of us is at a different stage of development: some of us don’t know this at all; others forget until we are reminded; others go through life without a spiritual element at all.

As to whether your Dad is in heaven….that is a whole other area for discussion. Does it exist, and why? Is it a reflection of here or something completely different?

I spent the last 15 days of my dad’s life right by his side. During the last 6 days of his life he went unconscious and kept his eyes closed. Moments before his death he opened his eyes which turned grey in color and his iris had a white glow in them. I can’t explain why this happened but I know what I was seeing. I believe I seen my dads soul in his eyes getting ready to exit his body. My dad passed away 2 breaths later. God and my dad gave me this last gift to remember it was beautiful.
Lisa.

We know so little about ‘who we are – our essence’ and what happens after death. Science knows so little about the whole process and yet, I believe quantum physics is now entertaining concepts like parallel universes, where consciousness actually resides (it’s NOT in the brain) etc.

I hope your Dad’s parting gift guides you through any dark times that may come your way; it is like a beacon and maybe it has already set your compass towards Home.

When my sister died of brain cancer she had a bruise on her cheek because she had slipped and fell the previous day. She also had very rough skin and lips from dehydration.

At the moment of passing there was a light around her body and her skin cleared and had a golden glow. Her husband and my sister witnessed this. I arrived several hours later and she still had the golden glow.

The hospice nurse said she had seen this happen only one time before with someone who had as much spiritual faith as my sister.

Although the visual effect is physical it seems there must be something more happening on a spiritual plane when this occurs.

Im sure there is a physical explanation for much of what happens at the moment of death – like muscles relaxing, toxins eliminating etc – but that doesn’t explain the beauty of the golden glow and why not everyone sees this even when they are present at the time of passing.

So what is the golden glow? Is it something that enters the body, a reflection from another being, or something that is always there but is dulled by the heaviness of the physical body?

No matter what it is, I like to think of it as a beautiful passing gift, something that has obviously stayed with you Helen.

Hi Helen and Rosemary. I’ve been present at the passing of several people during my nursing career and with family, but have not personally experienced the golden glow of death.

There are legends of the Tuatha de Danon disintegrating to golden butterfly like beings when they meet their end. I always feel there must be something in legends which continue to persist over the millennia and as the eyes are said to be the windows of the soul, it seems logical that they could be the focal point of a golden glow as the soul leaves the body.

On the subject of heaven, I believe that it is a condition that exists in and around us. As gasses and liquids can permeate solids in our physical world, to me, heaven and/or hell is just another vibrational level of existence which is with us at all times, not as yet detectable by scientific means, but I live in hope that the spirit world will one day become as acceptable to all people as space travel is to our generation, but would previously have been thought of as a fairy story by our ancestors.

At times it‘s sad and depressing. At other times I lie in bed and feel like I’m surrounded by a golden light and have visions of nature. It’s really peaceful.

I feel like I’m going to where I belong. I don’t belong in the physical world and want to return to spirit. My life has been torture and I’m desperate for peace. I could be deluded but it doesn’t seem that way.

I reach out to ‘friends‘ to save me. They don’t. Perhaps they’re not meant to. Perhaps I’m getting ready to move on and leave the physical world behind. I’m hoping the golden light of death will save me from the pain of the Earthly realm.

The comment I wrote about giving up on life might be seen as a suicide post. It wasn’t. It‘s just I feel tormented by life and I am waiting to die. I don’t encourage anyone to commit suicide. I was just saying how I felt. I could be deluded. I don’t know.

I spent the first years of my life not wanting to be here; even now I don’t love the physical world like some people do.

But I had an epiphany many years back and I committed to this world. Why did I do this? Because there are certain lessons that can only be learnt in the physical realms. Since I committed to life and throwing myself into it that commitment has become my internal compass. I’m here; I’d prefer to be there but while I’m here I’m going to grab life by the horns and live it.

You mention reaching out to others to save you. As you have found, first hand, no one can do this for you Anne. People are a disappointment; I get that too. I stopped expecting much from others and at times they surprise and delight me. In the main, however, life is pretty pedestrian.

I find myself saying to my adult children, life has no meaning in and of itself. It is up to you to create that for yourself.

Im sorry my response is filled with I and me and my Anne but in this instance, I….there that word felt this was what was requited.

If I’m wrong, I stand corrected.

On a different note, remember there are anonymous services you can call when you feel overwhelmed, or even underwhelmed by life. There, hopefully you will find a willing ear.

Hello Anne, I feel we have a lot in common. You have the same name as a good friend of mine from the 1960s with whom I have sadly lost contact, the usual, both families moved house, too busy to catch up with the new address and so on.

Secondly we share the same given name and thirdly I am going to share with you something of myself which I have never told a single person before.

I have a life which is not as I would have chosen it to be, but I have committed myself to take on troubles which are not my own that sometimes really get me down and I feel like “Stop the world, I want to get off”.

I also lay in bed feeling calm and thinking how nice it would be to escape my daily grind and go home, where that home is I’m not sure, all I know is that it is not on the physical Earth.

I am trained in medical matters having worked most of my life in the health service and I know that during the hours of darkness the body chemistry changes and the brain reacts by sending messages to our consciousness which sometimes give us feelings of hopeless and helplessness. This happens most nights to me as I lay awake mulling over my challenges for the next day.

As daylight breaks and the chemical balance restores itself, the feelings subside and I get up and carry on for another day, one day at a time.

I also have a calling from the spirit world which keeps me on track and the golden light which you experience I’m sure is there to keep you safe so that you can carry on during the daylight hours and fulfil your life plan.

If you are not aware that you have made a contract with spirit before you were born, this, this might come as a surprise to you. If it sparks an interest in you, perhaps you would like to take up a study project about reincarnation. I am willing to answer your questions, if I can, on this and other occult subjects.

The old sayings are the best, every cloud has a silver lining, it’s always darkest before the dawn etc etc.

One of my coworkers was glowing and I was the only one who could see it. It was a golden mist surrounding her head and it was beauiful and full of grace. It was a very powerful and peaceful feeling. Later that night the woman died in a car accident.

On another occasion my husband’s grandmother was dying in her bed. The whole family was there and it seemed every breath could be the last one. It had been rainy and gloomy for quite a few days by the time. Everybody waited for grandmomma to pass. I was there and held her hand and had a strong vision of sunlight.

I told my husband it’s not going to happen now. The sun will come up. We went home and had dinner. A beam of light shone through the curtain. My husband looked at me in silence and a few minutes later my mother-in-law called with the news.

I have also witnessed pets glowing before they pass. It’s also a very peaceful every time.

Oh Marina, thank you for sharing a few of your experiences. I enjoyed reading your post and could feel myself slowing down and calming as I did…..which was a bonus.

I have not personally witnessed the golden glow but am in no doubt that those who do regard it as a gift from the dying. Why does it happen before we die? Does our own energy level rise, or become more concentrated? Are we ‘topped up’ by angels, guides and those who have gone before us? Or is our energy unwinding and moving from coarse to fine in preparation for a life of fineness? I think the last reason feels right – today. Tomorrow I may feel different. Its one of the mysteries of life and thank heavens we have them Marina. What would live be like if we knew if all?

Dear Rosemary
I am not into the spriritual world although I do not deny or resent such a dimension.
I will testify to this however: my mother-in- law died at the hospial and immediately before drawing what turned out to be her last breath, she glowed across her face with a golden light for a second or two – it was incredible and beautiful – so much that I never was tempted to seek a physical explanation. I will carry that moment with me always – it was so peaceful.
Kind regards
Stig

Thank you for sharing what must have been a wonderful moment for you and an enduring gift from your mother-in-law.

Those who have seen similar refer to it as the soul or the spirit leaving the body.

Does that essence live on in another dimension? Again, many say yes.

There are many dimensions to spirituality Stig and I, for one, am probably more curious about the science of the dimensions than the concept of a higher being. Who knows, they may be one and the same, or at least intertwined.

My father passed away yesterday. About an hour before he stopped breathing, there was a golden glow around his eyes and mouth . I wasn’t the only one who saw this. The best way I can describe how it made me feel is “gloriously peaceful”.

My condolences for your loss Tim. Im so pleased you were able to witness this glow, and for others to also experience it with you. I like to think of it as a final gift of giving from the deceased.

There are many examples of transformation during the dying process and while it is not widely investigated, nonetheless for those who have experienced the phenomenon it is as real as the person who is left behind.

I came to the room where my mom was at the hospital, she had died about half an hour before of heart failure. What I saw at the foot of her bed I will never forget: it was a beam of golden light crystals. The best way I can describe it, is that it looked exactly like in the Star Trek series when they “beamed them up”.

At the time I thought it was an angel watching over the family, or a comforting presence. I wasn’t afraid. Now I think it might have been my mom’s spirit.

I would suggest that you are right. There are many accounts here on Psychic Revolution that indicate the essence of a person exists beyond death. Sometimes that spirit is ‘attached’ to the body; other times it is removed in space and time.

I like to think of it as a final, parting gift from a loved one. Maybe you feel the same?

A patient recently told me a story that on the morning his wife died she turned to him in bed and he could not look at her as a bright light like the sun made him look away. A short time later she died.
Can you explain this?

My sister died in a car crash at a young age. Around the time that they said she died, my mother, miles away was awoken (it was 11:30 pm) to what she said was a golden glow that filled the house. She looked for headlights through the front window but the source of what she called a beautiful glow was inside the house and after a few moments it vanished. She went back to sleep and was awoken next by the police officers and minister coming to inform my parents of the accident. My mother and our family believe that my sister “stopped by” for lack of a better term to comfort my mom before she moved on.

My wife had just taken her final breath as my daughter and granddaughter and I witnessed a strange highlight of a soft grey light appearing in her skin at the base of her neck, moving slowly upward to her hairline.

As it moved, all wrinkles disappeared in a kind of soft bubbling shimmer and stopped at her hairline. Loose skin in her neck became filled and firm. Facial skin took on a youthful texture, appearing like she was in her early twenties…my daughter was caressing her head and noticed it turned extremely warm, but cooling almost as suddenly at it had appeared.

We firmly believe we witnessed her moment of spirit leaving her body…and it was unspeakably beautiful.

My 94 year old Mom passed 2 months ago. The last few weeks she kept reaching her little arms upward and she said trying to get closer to God. The night she passed was very strange. HER FACED LOOKED LIKE A 40 YEAR OLD. No wrinkles or lines. The minute she left, a light shown on her face like a flash light. I believe that it was her spirit leaving for heaven. I have a real peace knowing where my mom is. Bonnie

What a joy; what a gift from your Mum. She may have even been reaching out to those she knew before they died….there are many stories of people being assisted to pass over. Im not sure what to make of the 50 years dropping away from her face and I dont recall anyone describing the transformation in quite this way…..but we all see things a little differently.

I was by his side until the day before his passing. He passed away on a Friday; the day before Thursday, I was getting ready to leave him and planned on returning the following morning. Before I left, I decided to take pictures of him, and when I took the pictures I did not notice anything different.

The next day he passed.

I then had the film developed and when I saw the pictures, I was amazed to see a beautiful Golden Glow around his body. I took pictures of his hands and the Golden Glow was all around his hands, feet and head. And in his hospital room there was nothing that could of done this his room was dark. No bright lights.

This was the day before his passing and as I was not there when he died I was not able to say Good-bye.

Its as if he waited for me to leave, and there was so many things I wanted to say.

In answer to your question, many would insist that the deceased are with us – as much in spirit as they were when they were alive, if not more so. So, please take heart, talk to your husband and continue to send him your love. In many ways, there are less barriers when someone passes. It’s never too late to say goodbye and ..and there are always opportunities for closure. Does time exist in the afterlife? Probably not; we;; not as we understand it. So, I encourage you to include your husband in your grieving and when the time comes to release him, you’ll know.

Some deceased do communicate with loved ones from beyond the veil but, personally I think it’s wrong to expect our loved ones to do this. It’s my belief that they are not at our ‘beck and call’, and even though they may have free will is it right to expect this of them? I like to think that they will communicate only if they need to.

The best thing you can do for your husband and yourself is to look after yourself now. Im a firm believer that those who have gone before us do watch over us. The love that binds us in life doesn’t die when they die.

Take care of yourself and cherish those photos. Surely, they are a gift from beyond the grave?